Coal-separator



(No Model.)

J. R. RICHARDSON.

GOAL SEPARATOR.

. Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN RI RICHARDSON, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-SEPARAT'OR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,427, dated January 8, 1895.

Application filed December 30, 1893. Serial No. 495,191. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN R. RICHARDSON, of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ooal-Sepa? rators, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

The object of myinvention is to producea device for thoroughly separating the impurities which occur in coal as it comes from the mine and rendering the separated coal clean and merchantable, ready for market.

In those kinds of separators which are now generally employed, the office of the separator is more or less imperfectly performed, so that in order to thoroughly clean the coal it is necessary to pass it more than once through the separator, or to employ hand pickers to do the work which is left undone by the machine.

By my invention the necessity for more than one cleaning operation is avoided and the work is done in the first instance so as to altogether save the labor of hand picking.

My machine is adapted for use in the cleaning of all grades of coal from hard anthracite tosoft bituminous.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine, showingone form of adjustment. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.

Referring to the figures on the drawingsi 1 indicates a receiving chute which may be made of suitable shape and dimensions and of suitable material, preferably sheet iron. It is preferably provided with perforations 2 at its upper 'end over which, in practice, the screen (not illustrated) would be located. It

has sides3 made preferably integral with the chute proper and which serve to confine the material received from the screen within the chute.

eindicates a suitable frame or trestle which supports the receiving. chute at a desirable angle, the width of the angle depending upon the length of the chute employed and the distance which would be permitted for the ma terial to travel over. At the lower end of the receiving chute I provide, at an angle thereto which will afford an abrupt obstruction to the passage of the material through the receiving chute, a deflecting plate 5.

6 indicates a discharge chute whose upper end is of a width equal to the width of the deflecting plate 5. It is provided with sides .7 andis preferably contracted at its lower be variable to adapt the machine for cleaning different sizes of material. For this purpose either the discharge chute 6 or the deflecting plate 5 may be .made adjustable, since the object may be accomplished equally well in either way. If the discharge chute is made adjustable the deflecting plate preferably forms a part of the receiving chute.- The adjacent ends of the receiving chute andthe discharge chute are pivotally united, as by links 12 secured upon opposite ends, while wedges 13, for example, may be employed for adjusting the elevation of the upper end of the discharge chute.

By the term link connection I mean any pivotal connecting mechanism which will produce a correlative regulation of the vertical and horizontal distances between the adjacent edges of the deflecting plate and discharge chute, and which renders the movements of the deflecting plate and the discharge chute interdependent.

In the operation of my machine the force of gravity is relied upon to carry the-material received from the screen down the re- 0 ceiving chute and to drive itwith velocity against the deflecting plate.

It has been suggested that the angle of the receiving chute will depend very much upon its length, the object being to attain the requisite velocity, which may be accomplished by increasing the length of the chute or by increasing the angle of elevation. I prefer to use a long chute where it may be conveniently done.

. I00 The other element besides velocity upon whichthe operation of my machine depends is the comparative Weight of the different materials received from the screen. For exampie, it coal is the material to be separated, the usual refuse accompaniment is slate which is much heavier. Consequently, when the coal and slate strike the deflecting plate the one, on account of its lightness, is deflected at a higher angle than the other and the coal bounds clear of the edge 9 of the discharge chute,while the heavier slate is forced through the slot 11. It has been thoroughly demonstrated, in practice, that the properties relied upon for this purpose in connection with my machine may be depended upon to do the Work in the manner above described.

What I claim is 1. In a separating apparatus, the combination with a receiving chute and deflecting plate, and discharge chute, of a link connection between the discharge chute and deflect ing plate, whereby the regulation of the vertical and horizontal distances between the In testimony of all which I have hereunto 3 5 subscribed my name.

JOHN R. RICHARDSON. \Vitnesses:

JOSEPH L. ATKINS, L. G. .TULIHN. 

